$25 Martinis and Other Exorbitant Cocktails

To celebrate Fashion Week, New York magazine’s daily food blog, Grub Street, proposed a toast—with a post about a $25 martini. The drink, titled Lady of the Evening, is an Imperia vodka martini that boasts a swanky accessory—a caviar-topped cucumber slice:

It’s available at the Bryant Park Hotel’s Cellar Bar, so we’re assuming that by now more than a few models have downed the cucumber and caviar float and called it ‘dinner.’ Which, when you think about it, makes the price tag not so outlandish.

Of course, the price of this cocktail doesn’t hold a candle to Trader Vic’s Mai Tai. Served at the Merchant Hotel in Belfast, Northern Ireland, this expensive concoction is spiked with 17-year-old Wray & Nephew rum, which goes for about 50 grand per bottle. The Merchant Hotel’s Mai Tai costs a whopping $1,475 and holds the Guinness World Record for the most expensive cocktail. Can’t help but wonder—what kind of a tip do you leave for a drink like that?